Thursday, August 6, 2015

Thursday, December 11, 2014 - Zanzibar, Tanzania


We got up at 6, dressed and had coffee and went to get our tender tickets.  There is room for only one ship in the Zanzibar port and it was unloading containers so we had to anchor and tender to shore again.

We got on the first tender and were met by our guide, Mohammed.  Zanzibar is 95% Muslim.  He was a great guide.  He first took us to the market and we walked through the fish, meet, vegetable and other areas.  It operates every single day and was a hub-bub of activity.
The meat laying all over at the fish and meat market

Stingrays laying on the ground - For Sale!

Then we walked to the Slave Market where there is now a church.  Dr. Livingstone is remembered in this church.  We went into the slave quarters where they were packed in awful conditions.  Then we got back on the bus and went to the waterfront and walked through the Sultan’s Palace – needs a lot of work but had some interesting displays.  Then to a museum and then we walked through Stone Town.  The doors and architecture are interesting with intricate carvings and some painted colors.  We enjoyed the walk through Stone Town. 
The Slave Market in Stone Town - Zanzibar
 
 
The Anglican Church - with memorial to Dr. Livingstone
 
The cathedral in StoneTown
 
A memorial to the slaves who passed through here
 
"Memory for the Slaves"
 
Inside the cathedral in StoneTown
 
Memorial to Dr. Livingstone
 
The elaborate altar
 
The slave quarters - hundreds of slaves were packed into a small space
 

We toured one of the former President mansions - great artifacts but in need of a lot of restoration.
Portraits of former sultans and leaders

A beautiful chandelier

A former cabinet room

A bedroom for one of the Princesses

An official portrait

Another bedroom

We ended up at a store and I got the girls a postcard of Zanzibar and then I tipped Mohammed and we walked back to the dock.  Lots of people approached us along the way wanting to talk, sell us things, or take us on a tour.  We used “Hapana Asante” (No Thank You”) very effectively and they left us alone.  It was fun walking down the street greeting the locals with “Jambo-Jambo” and they smiled and returned the greeting along with “Karibo” – You are Welcome Here!  Great fun.
The Voyager at anchor in Zanzibar

A graveyard

Lots of colorful boats at anchor in the harbor

The rooms were somewhat sparsely furnished

Front of the official residence

Another old building but this one wasn't open

The old quarters with a walled fortress

An old amphitheatre

The oldest church in Zanzibar

A shop with great boxes and trunks

The "Singo" tradition - cleansing for the bride

A central square with a telephone way up on the pole out of reach

Fascinating doors throughout Stone Town

More doors

More doors

Hand Carved doors

Beautiful work

An old structure in Stone Town

Panorama of the Harbor at Stone Town on Zanzibar

We think these people may either be swimming or washing clothes in the harbor

Many boats loaded with "stuff" rode around our ship

And the beautiful sailing vessels were all around us too.

We got back on the ship and took a very short nap and then went to the Chili Cookoff on the pool level.  The spicy chili wasn’t very spicy!  Then it was time for a long afternoon nap since last night was so short.  Then we went to the gym and exercised for an hour.  Tim went to High Tea and had egg salad sandwiches – I just drank water and I was so dehydrated from the workout.

We showered and relaxed in our cabin until 7 when we went to Observation Lounge to meet George, Grant, Monica and Richard for drinks and dinner.  We had fun conversation and then went to Sette Mari for dinner – got a table for 6 right away.  I had the Chioppino and it was great.  We called it an early night since we had closed the bars the last 3 nights and went to bed about 10:30.

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